This invention relates to apparatus for stacking sheets, in particular sheets fed seriatem along a path, in a collecting bin which is adjustable in the entrance direction to different sheet sizes such that a stationary abutment associated with all sheet sizes is provided for the lead sheet edge, seen in the entrance direction, and an adjustable limiting element is associated with the trailing sheet edge, the sheets being stacked in the collecting bin from the edge of the stack which is adjacent to said adjustable limiting element.
In a sheet stacking apparatus such as disclosed in DE-PS 33 15 708, the sheets are stacked on a tray, against a lead edge stop, passing over an adjustable sheet size limiting element. In the area of the trailing edge of the stack, the trailing edge guide for the incoming sheets can approach the lead edge stop of the stack only as far as this is allowed by the maximum sheet size to be stacked. However, when an adjustment of the guide has to be made to the minimum sheet size, the distance between the lead edge stop and the trailing edge guide is so great that, in the absence of adequate guidance, the lead edge of an incoming sheet can hit the trailing edge of the stack or can get under sheets already located in the sheet stack, which may lead to malfunctioning and an incorrect stacking order.
It is also known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,295) for sheets being stacked in a collecting bin to be transported through an upwardly inclined guide toward the collecting bin and to be guided into contact with a concave cover which is arranged above the collecting bin. Incoming sheets are thus guided in an arc to a position above the sheet stack and directed onto the stack such that the incoming sheets cannot hit upwardly pointing sheet ends at the trailing edge of the sheets already deposited. However, the arcuate guide path provided for the sheets in this known device requires a great amount of space.